Just NJ and Me

I was a little worried about how I'd occupy my day with the active little guy. I guess I could have taken him to grandma's, but I wanted to spend some time with him. It turned out quite eventful without any planning! We went to get a treat first. A smoothie for him and tea for me. At home, we had lunch and a nap before ah-ma and ee-boh (grandma and great aunt) came to visit with some more treats (pastries). Soon after, Auntie Nicole arrived and then Auntie with guh-guh and di-di ("big brother" and "little brother"). The aunties and I chatted while the boys played for a bit. Then we took a trip to Michael's together. That was interesting. Baby was calling for attention, the boys were wandering, jumping, running, yelling, laughing, chasing... It was funny trying to stay focused while also keeping an eye on NJ. Us mommies and auntie were intermittently calling out: Stop! Come here. Don't touch that! No running! Put that down! Calm down! Or at least I was to NJ, but overall he was pretty good. Auntie Nicole had to get home, while the rest of us went to eat together. (We missed you, Auntie Nicole!)

Play time with the boys

They're all growing so fast!

"Chick-Fer-Rey!"

Happy faces all around! We tried to go there for lunch, but... (from the words of NJ), "We can't go to chic-fer-rey because the line is too long. It's so long, we have to wait a long time. We go another time..." He repeated this for the rest of the day, maybe to make himself feel better about it. I sometimes forget how great he is about any change of plans. When he's excited about something and then we can't go or do what he wanted, he surprisingly doesn't throw a tantrum, get upset, cry, or whine. Same with shopping, he never asks for anything or gets upset over stuff I know he wants. I was reminded again even during dinner when Auntie went to get guh-guh ("big brother") an ice cream cone. His eyes were glued to guh-guh as he ate it, but he hardly made a fuss. He asked me for one, but I told him he already had a smoothie earlier today, so maybe another day. First meal that Auntie took out both boys by herself. Funny, we were outnumbered!

He enjoyed making some valentine's so much, I gave him some to color. Turns out he was more interested in scribbling on the back than coloring the pictures. Oh well. It occupied plenty of time and he seemed to enjoy it.

He really doesn't like the sun in his eyes! I asked him what he ate at ah-ma's (grandma's) and he he says, "Brown rice and a plant from outside." Hmm. I couldn't get any further description or explanation. I made some rice, sausage, and corn for him and baba. I told NJ to start eating first, but he always insists that we all eat together. I was still making something for myself and I told him that. So he kept telling me, "Go cook. Now go cook!" He wanted me to hurry up so that I could eat with them. He also said, "I can eat, you can cook." silly. He's been saying our meal prayers. They are pretty simple: "Dear Jesus, thank you for this day, thank you for the food on the table. In Jesus name, Amen!" But today, he added something of his own. He thanked God for his cars placemat from Taiwan.

I went a little overboard at Target's dollar section. But it made for a very excited little boy to eat and drink. I suppose he doesn't need much motivation, though. :)

What's wrong with this milk mustache?

An Afternoon Treat

As we were out, I knew we'd be passing a McDonald's so I got him a little treat. On the condition that he'd share it. I didn't want him to down the entire thing! He really enjoyed it.

"Night night, sweet dreams, love you."

Every night after our bedtime prayer, he climbs into bed reciting everything that we used to tell him before leaving the room.

"No touching the heater, no opening the closet doors, no opening the drawers, no touching the clothes, no touching the window, no banging on the door, no yelling mama and baba... and no light show." I guess we repeated them to him enough times. He started to just say all of it before we could remind him. When he first started sleeping in his bed he'd mess with everything. At night he'd turn the light on and off repeatedly, we could see it from outside his door. Same with his portable heater, we could hear it beeping from outside his room when he'd repeatedly press the buttons. And in the mornings I'd have to refold some of his clothes because he'd mess them up. One morning I heard him cry out, when I ran in he had a heavy box on his foot from the closet. He said he was trying to reach a toy that we put away. I think he's finally lost interest since sleeping in his bed is not anything new any more. Thank goodness. Now he just tries every excuse not to go to bed yet.

"I want some more milk." Or, "I'm not tired." Or, "I want to watch basketball."

Hand Rolls

It's been a long time since making our own rolls. Fun, fresh, and yummy.

"I want to wait here for Baba."

How sweet. After dinner, Baba went out, so it was me and NJ. I told him that he wouldn't see Baba until tomorrow, but he kept insisting on waiting and asking when he'd be back. That's when I asked him if he wanted to do crafts!

crafting some valentines

Such concentration, I love it! He loved peeling the stickers and sticking them on. Funny, he kept looking at the photo on the package and tried to copy it. I tried to tell him that it's more fun to put it wherever you want. Otherwise, he'd look at the package and say, "This one go here, and this one go here..." Silly. He had fun with it and did a good job. Now, who will we be sending these to? :)

Goodbye old coin-op dryer...

It finally gave out, my mom's replacing the dryer that we've used for the majority of my life. I always thought it was funny that it was a 50 cent coin-op. I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has. She found a decent one in the penny saver. I should have picked up on her thriftiness much earlier in my life, I'd be much better off!

NJ sized is also Dotty sized...

Look who I caught making herself comfortable in NJ's chair.

Family Sunday at HOPE

Rice Kissbees

To offset my off day, I thought I'd do what makes me happy... Making treats and making dinner (ran out of eggs, otherwise it would have been cookies). NJ was overly eager to help out and he did a good job. I gave him his own spoon to stir, spatula to scrape, and let him eat the rest off the spoon. It made me really happy to see how much he was enjoying himself. I even got a, "This is cool! This is fun!" from him. Cute.